Ghost in the Blade
by Kevin Joe Bays
Summary: Ranma is forced to face his worse nightmare.


Ranma held the strange one inch mirror hanging from the gold chain around his neck. For some reason it had been mailed to him the previous day by an anonymous person. It was a rather attractive mirror, but what got him was the strange sensation he felt from it. He wasn't sure why, but he was certain he should keep it nearby.

* * *

Kuno woke with a start. He was in his bed and it was mid afternoon already. 

"Curse you Sasuke! You were suppose to wake me for school!"

Quietly, Gosunkugi appeared appeared at the door.

"I'm sorry mister Kuno," said Gosunkugi before adding, "Could you please stop calling me by that name?"

"Fine, have it your way. Now where were you man? You know I can't be late getting to school."

"Well sir, I was trying to find something to help you defeat Saotome."

"Come now, as if I need assistance to defeat the vial Ranma."

"All the same, perhaps you might find this interesting. It's a blade used by the great assassin of the Meiji Era known as the Battō-jutsu-sama." as Gosunkugi said this, he revealed a blade. "Legend has it this blade contains the powers that made him the greatest swordsman of the land."

Taking the blade in hand, Kuno carefully inspected it. He placed unwrapped the handle and drew the sword from it's sheath. Holding it high, he felt like he'd been hit by static electricity.

Just as that sensation started to die out, he felt a massive pain from his right cheek. Bringing his hand up to it, he felt a wet sensation before holding it out for inspection. His hand was coated in a layer of blood that he was sure was his.

"Your cheek, it's bleeding..." Gosunkugi stuttered.

"I can see that you fool! Get me some bandages and be quick about it!" This order sent Gosunkugi scrabbling out of the room leaving Kuno to stare at the sword in his hands.

In his mind, a silent battle began.

* * *

At Furikan High, Ranma looked out the window to see if he could spot Kuno arriving to school. Not that he wasn't grateful for Kuno's absence, it's just that it seemed far too good to be true. He had no doubt that Kuno would arrive and challenge him shortly. 

As if on cue, the form of Kuno darkened the entrance to the school grounds.

"I suppose I should go and greet Kuno with my fist," Ranma stated to no one in particular before opening the window and jumping out. Landing gracefully on the ground, Ranma ran up to Kuno and took his stance. "You're late Kuno and I needed to beat you up for that freaky dream I had last night. Hope you don't mind."

"How dare you address me in such a tone. This one is the rising star of the kendo world. Amongst my peers, I have no equal. I am... a wanderer, that I am..." abruptly Kuno paused for a moment as he realized his mistake. "Wait a minute, I'm no wanderer, I'm Blue Thunder!..."

"What's the matter," Ranma taunted. "Can't remember who you are? How about I knock some sense into ya!"

Ranma swiftly went into a defensive stance and waited for Kuno to voice a retaliation. After all, that's how their fights always went. He was surprised when instead Kuno went into a stance he'd never seen before. He stood forward mostly, but held his blade behind him. Suddenly Ranma recognized it as the basic stance of iaijutsu, a quick draw style.

"I'll silence that tongue of yours once and for all today Saotome," stated Kuno. As confident as he sounded, Ranma was sure something was wrong. Shaking aside his concerns, he charged in.

Kuno's blade whipped out and slashed at Ranma. Dodging left, he felt the steel graze left shoulder. Before he could retreat, Kuno's stance shifted and his blade impacted with the side of Ranma's head sending him flying to the ground. As he crashed into the pavement, he silently swore.

Staggering back to his feet, Ranma whipped away some blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Seems you've gotten better Kuno. Course I'm still gonna have to lay you down." He went back into a defensive stance and began to study Kuno. Something caught his eyes. On Kuno's face, he wore a giant bandage that covered most of his right cheek. "Hey Kuno, what'd you do to your face? Cut it while shaving?"

"This?" Kuno said hesitantly as he touched the bandage. Without warning, he ripped it off revealing a cross shaped cut.

"What the heck?" Ranma took a step back.

"It's a sign of my..." hesitantly pausing, Kuno appeared to be trying to find the right word. "A sign of my responsibility."

Before Ranma could react, Kuno was on him slashing his blade's edge into his stomach. For a moment time slowed down for Ranma as he saw the blade impact. The next thing he knew, he was thrown back into the school wall.

As he laid in the rubble, his hand went to the impact point and felt for blood or any other sign that he'd been cut. To his surprise, he only felt a bruise. Kuno's blade failed to cut him. With that worry put to rest, he surrendered to the pain that overwhelmed him and awaited the humiliation that was sure to come as Kuno bragged about his win.

Instead, Kuno bent down, picked up his immobile form, and proceeded to carry him.

"What the heck do you think you're doing Kuno?" Ranma weakly stated.

"Taking you to the infirmary of course Saotome. Or would you prefer to remain amongst the rubble?"

Unsure of what this meant, Ranma submitted to being carried by his mortal enemy. Course with his body battered as it was, he knew he couldn't resist at this point. His only fear was that Kuno would try something perverted.

This fear was put to rest ten minutes later as he was placed in one of the infirmary beds and left alone.

* * *

Hours later, Ranma awoke abruptly. His body had already patched itself up. Of course his ego was still injured in a way he'd never experienced. Not only did Kuno win, but he didn't seem to care when the fight was over. 

He had to have a rematch. It was the only way he could be sure about what had just happened. Of course, he'd have to find some way around Kuno's sword.

"That sword..." he stated aloud to no one. "It seemed funny. I swear it seemed like the blade was on the wrong side..."

Even with this knowledge, he knew he'd have to find some way to block the sword. Kuno's movements were to fast to just dodge and an impact could probably break bones he reasoned.

* * *

A little while later, Ranma traveled to his mother's house. He considered knocking, but felt silly for thinking that. Entering, he looked around briefly. 

"Hey mom, I'm home," he called out. He heard the sound of the local news coming from one of the other rooms.

"The record breaking global heat wave seems to have no end in sight and in a few areas..." promptly the sound stopped with a audible click.

"Why hello Ranma-kun," the bright and cheery voice of his mother returned. Nodoka made her way from the kitchen door way. "How are you Ranma?"

"I'm alright mom. I came by to see if you could let me borrow your katana."

"My katana?" she asked with a surprised look on her face. "Why in the world would you want to borrow that?"

"I need to use it to help me defeat this kid named Takewaki Kuno."

"Well, I don't know why you two are fighting, but I can't allow the honor sword to be used in combat. However, there's something I've been meaning to give you for some time now. Please wait here."

"Uh... sure," he stuttered. As he waited for Nodoka to return, he nervously took in his surroundings. The house looked remarkably like it did when he was a child despite the fact that this wasn't exactly the same home. That house had been destroyed and this one build on the old one's foundation. Some how they'd managed to not only duplicate look, but the feel as well.

Moments later, Nodoka returned with a box. Handing that box to her son, she smiled and watched as he opened it. His eyes light up.

"Are you sure you want me to have these?" he asked cautiously.

"Of course I do. You've grown up and deserve to have the family treasure. While I never expected they would see combat, I'm glad you'll be the one to use them."

Inside the box was a twin set of kodachi. They would be perfect in helping him defeat Kuno, but he felt it was a tad ironic that he'd be using swords with such a name. Before he could do that, he'd have to spend a week training himself or the fight would be over before it started.

* * *

The week went by quickly as Ranma worked on perfecting his kodachi techniques. He was sure that his skill and speed could match the improvements that Kuno had. The real problem was that he didn't want to kill the fool, so precision would be required. If he made even the tiniest mistake, it could cost Takewaki his life. 

"Ranma! Come quick! Happousai's been hurt!" Akane yelled as she ran up to him. This sent a chill up his spine.

"You're kidding right? It's probably nothing at all..."

"No Ranma. He's barely hanging on to life at this point..."

"Come on Akane, this is the old freak we're talking about right? I'm sure he'll be back on his feet in no time at all..." Even saying this, he started running to Happousai's room. The sight that waited for him was shocking. The tiny pervert was bandaged head to toe. All he could think was some how Kuno did this.

Course he wasn't sure if Happousai's defeat was a good thing or a bad thing. It was good cause at least now the neighborhood could hang their underwear out to dry without fear. The downside was that Kuno was likely to be far more dangerous then Happousai ever was.

Running from the house, he set out to find Kuno as fast as he could. He had to put a stop to Kuno before anyone else could get hurt.

* * *

After searching for hours, he came across Kuno standing on the roof of Furikan High. 

"Alright Kuno, fight me!" This caused Kuno to turn softly towards him. The look on the Kendoist face was somber. Not that of a man that had just defeated two of the strongest people.

"Saotome..." he breathed out. "I would rather not if it's all the same Ranma."

This statement caused Ranma to face vault.

"Tell you what Kuno. You defeat me, I'll set you up a date with the pigtailed girl." For a moment, Ranma was sure he saw excitement in Kuno's eyes. That glint quickly dulled again though.

"This one is unworthy of dating the pigtailed girl."

Ranma simply grunted in anger. This was getting old fast.

"Listen up Kuno, you're gonna fight me if you like it or not. Now prepare yourself!" Ranma shouted as he drew the two kodachi and charged. Kuno quickly drew back into a iaijutsu stance. This time he wouldn't have to worry about having his bones broken.

Kuno shot the blade in a curved arch towards Ranma. The blade was met by Ranma's kodachi with an audible clang. Using his speed to bring the second kodachi up, he struck the side of Kuno's head with the broad side. Before Kuno could recover, Ranma quickly thrust the handles of the kodachi into Kuno's stomach.

"That's for driving that sword of yours into my gut," he spat. Backing up, he allowed Kuno to regain his footing. "This is it Kuno. The next attack will knock you out!"

Rather then retort, Kuno sheathed his sword and assuming the iaijutsu stance again. Ranma charged in once again and raised his hands preparing for anything when he noticed Kuno's left foot shift outward. This caused Ranma to come to a stop and leap backwards.

"Ama Kakeru Ryu no Hirameki," Kuno shouted as his sword slashed outward at a high speed. Ranma felt the sword as it ripped through his shirt. In the same motion, he felt the force of the blade leave a burning sensation on his chest. He quickly thanked whatever deity that was watching from on high that he'd chosen to step back when he did or the blade would have left a nice size gash. Still, what the blade did do hurt like the devil was smashing his gold fiddle against every nerve in his body.

He had no time to let the pain settle though. Quickly he took advantage of Kuno's lack of balance to unleash a hail storm of punches across his torso. A minute later and several hundreds of punches later, Kuno fell face forward to the ground. The fight it seemed was over.

Looking closely at the fallen form of Kuno, he noticed the cross shaped scar beginning to fade away.

"Thank you kind sir," a kindly voice said suddenly, startling Ranma. "Sorry. This one did not mean to startle you."

"That's alright," Ranma said as he noticed the strange ghostly figure. Upon close inspection, it appeared to be a man of about twenty five years or so. His red hair was long and tied into a pony tail. Upon his right cheek, Ranma spotted a cross shaped scar just like the one that was on Kuno. The man wore a kindly expression in his face.

"Thank you for helping free me of the sword."

"Huh?"

"By reducing that man's swordsman's spirit to practically nothing, I was able to separate myself from him. Now I'm free to rest..."

"Hey, what's your name?"

"This one is known as Kenshin Himura."

"You're the famous swordsman I read about while I was in Kyoto with my old man... but why were you possessing Kuno?"

"This one supposes it has to do with my death. At the time, I was pouring my soul into my blade in a desperate attempt to stay alive and keep fighting." The ghostly image faded for a second before returning.

"But I read you died an old man..." Ranma paused to wipe a thin layer of sweat from his brow. The heat wave was getting to him finally.

"Sadly that wasn't to be this one's fate. Last thing I remember was visiting Kyoto when I was ambushed."

"Can you remember any more then that?"

"Sadly I can't. Everything is clouded, that it is." once again, Kenshin's ghostly form faded, this time taking several minutes before returning. "Sorry this one is. I must let go now."

"Yeah... Good bye," he said melancholy as Kenshin's form vanished for the last time. He sheathed his kodachis and claped his hands together for a silent prayer, then turned to head home.


End file.
